Terms to Know

CFM

A range hood’s performance is measured in Cubic Feet per Minute (CFM). This is a measure of how much air can be removed from a given space in a single minute. Another way of thinking of CFM is horsepower in a car. It’s really a measure of performance. The higher the CFM level the more air the range hood can remove in one minute of operation.

Sones

A Sone is an internationally recognized measurement of loudness. It is a unit of loudness as perceived by a person with normal hearing. This is the level and quality of noise your range hood will emit in a kitchen environment when properly ducted.

0.5 Sones: Soft whisper

4-5 Sones: Normal conversation

8 Sones: Traffic noise

1-2 Sones: Refrigerator

British Thermal Unit (BTU)

A British Thermal Unit is the amount of heat energy needed to raise the temperature of one pound of liquid water by one degree from 60 to 61 degrees Fahrenheit. More importantly, BTUs is the performance measurement of all gas ranges. A typical range BTU measurement is 60,000 BTU. When selecting a range hood, a good rule of thumb is to match the range hood’s maximum CFM levels to the range or cooktop’s maximum BTU output.

Recirculating

When ducting the range hood to the outside environment is not possible, a range hood with a recirculating kit allows air to be cleansed through a carbon filter that traps and quarantines cooking by-products. Once the air passes through the carbon filter it is reintroduced into the kitchen environment grease and odor free

A recirculating kit is a good alternative when there is no option to exhaust air to the outside environment.

Capture Area

Capture area is the range hood’s footprint for capturing and exhausting cooking by-products. It is measured in width and depth of the range hood itself in relation to the cooktop below. A general guideline to is to match the width of the range or cooktop with the width of the range hood. Also cover at least all of the back burners and half of the front burners to effectively capture and exhaust any cooking by-product.

Mounting Height

Mounting height refers to how high the range hood can be installed from the filter of the range hood to the burners on the range below. “Installing the range hood within the recommended mounting heights aids in the safe and efficient operation of the range hood.

Vent Hood Blower Types

Range & vent hood blowers come in several configurations. Zephyr offers range hood blowers that can be installed inside the range hood (internal), inside the rafters or floorboards (in-line) or on a side wall or roof of the house (external).